To apply for child support enforcement services, you must complete an Application for Services and return it
to our office. Applications can be requested by mail, telephone, or in person at our office. A IV-D application
will be provided on the same day if requested in person, or within five working days if requested by phone or mail.

All applications are logged into the child support office upon receipt and subsequently stamped with the date on which
they were submitted. At this time, a case record is established. Within twenty days of receiving an Application for
Services, one of our case specialists will contact you to both verify specific information as well as solicit anything
further that might assist in location efforts.

If you are not receiving public assistance, you will be required to pay a $20 application fee at the time you submit
the Application for Services. If you already have a child support order through a divorce agreement or from another state,
we must have a copy of this order to enforce it.

Location of Non-Custodial Parents

The location of a non-custodial parent must be known to establish paternity or enforce a support order.
We employ a number of approaches to locate a non-custodial parent, using mainly his/her social security number
and date of birth. If necessary, we may utilize credit bureaus and the Internet to aid in our search. Once located,
we will attempt to identify his/her employer(s) as well as other sources of income and assets. The amount of
time it takes to locate an individual varies depending on the circumstances of a case. The more information that
can be provided about the absent parent and his or her whereabouts, the more quickly we can attempt to establish a
child support order. Your co-operation is essential.

We will need the following information from the custodial parent in order to proceed with our location attempts:

Legal name (Required)

Residential address

Social Security number

Home and/or work phone number

Place of employment

Physical description

Information about any military service

Any other identifying information that might be useful

Establishing Paternity

Establishing Paternity is the process for determining a child’s legal father. If parents are not married to each other when
their child is born (and there has been no legal recognition of paternity), the child does not have a legal father. Paternity
can be established either through voluntary acknowledgment or through a legal action, but fatherhood must be legally recognized
in order to obtain a child support order. If the father does not admit paternity or is not sure he is the father, genetic tests
may be ordered by the court.

For more detailed information regarding paternity establishment, please click on the following link.

Once we have located the non-custodial parent and paternity is established, one of our Case Specialists will attempt
to establish an order for financial support. This will be done either through an administrative process or by going
to court. The administrative process to establish an order must begin within fifteen days of locating the non-custodial
parent. An order will normally be established within ninety days from the date that the non-custodial parent is located
if there are no problems with service of process. If the non-custodial parent lives out of state, establishment of a child
support order may take up to twelve months.

Colorado has a law that explains the formula used to determine the amount of child support that must be paid by a
non-custodial parent. The law that governs child support guidelines in Colorado is C.R.S. §14-10-115. The Colorado
guidelines consider the following when calculating the child support payments.

The parents’ combined adjusted gross income, or an estimation of the amount that would be allotted to the
child if the parents were living in an intact household;

The needs of the child in terms of extraordinary medical expenses and work-related child care costs

The physical custody arrangements.

For more detailed information regarding financial order establishment, please click on the following link.

The payment of a child’s health insurance premium to a financial support order may be added to the basic child
support obligation, and thus will be divided between the parents in proportion to their adjusted gross income.

For more detailed information regarding medical support order establishment, please click on the following link.

After the court grants a child support order, the state of Colorado has the
legislative authority to collect current and past-due child support through enforcement remedies.
Enforcement remedies ensure the payment of child support by all parents who are obligated to pay.
Parents who do not pay their child support face the following consequences:

Because family dynamics and situations do not remain static, Federal and Colorado regulations have developed standards
for periodic review and adjustment of child support amounts. It might be appropriate to adjust the amount of support either
upward or downward based on a change in the child’s needs or a variation in the calculation of support under mandatory
guidelines. In Colorado, any parent or guardian has the authority to request a review of the child support order and if
a child is receiving public assistance, their support order is automatically reviewed every thirty-six months. Parents or guardians
of children receiving public assistance may request a modification review prior to the automatic thirty-six month review if there has
been a “major life change” which affects a non-custodial parent’s income or the custody of the child.

In an attempt to nurture and grow the relationships between non-custodial parents and their children, El Paso County Child Support
Services has developed the El Paso County Parent Opportunity Program (POP). Through individualized case management, POP works with
non-custodial parents to achieve personal family and career-oriented goals. By achieving these goals, parents can both bond with
their children and learn to become better providers for their families.

POP also offers various legal and community services to eligible parents. POP case managers are able to find legal help and mental
health counseling for parents in need of them. POP provides services through a community partnership comprised of El Paso County Department
of Human Services, Center on Fathering, Goodwill Industries, and Child Support Services of Colorado.

To be eligible to receive POP services, applicants must be non-custodial parents who are residents of El Paso or Teller Counties and
have an income of not more than 185% of the federal poverty level.